When it came time for the Sonic development team to present, the room fell silent.
The vice team leader stood up, a bitter expression on his face. "Managing Director, you reassigned Yuji Naka to work on hardware architecture, and Hirokazu Yasuhara was pulled in to help develop tools. We're leaderless right now. The Mega Drive sequel, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, has barely gotten off the ground—"
"We need to make some adjustments," Takuya replied decisively.
The vice team leader's face turned green. "Huh?"
"Sonic is Sega's flagship." Takuya stood up, his hands braced on the table, his gaze intense. He pointed toward the Hardware Development Department next door. "The company's top engineers are all focused on developing the new console. It's still a long way off, but based on our understanding of its capabilities and features, we can start preliminary work now. You should use this foundation to roughly design the setting, concept, and levels. When Naka returns, I want to see a detailed Sonic proposal that can launch alongside the new console."
"But... we have no experience with high-speed movement in a 3D environment."
"Who said it has to be fully 3D?" Takuya smirked mischievously. "Use a 3D background, keep the classic 2D gameplay mechanics, and add dynamic camera angles. We'll give players a taste of next-generation speed. Your team will do the preliminary research first. If you hit any technical roadblocks, go knock on Yuji Naka's door next door. If he refuses to open, tell him I told you to break it down."
The conference room erupted in laughter.
Several other development teams reported their progress, all exceeding the one-third mark. Takuya Nakayama estimated that several teams were either already available or would soon be free to participate in the development of the first wave of launch titles. He decided to put the remaining teams' projects on hold.
Over the next two weeks, Takuya Nakayama's office was visited by representatives from various development teams.
The first to visit were the core members of the RPG development team led by Rieko Kodama.
This "big sister" of the RPG department arrived in a sharp professional outfit, a few thin sheets of paper tucked under her arm, her confident stride carrying her with the wind. She showed none of the usual restraint employees displayed when meeting with their superiors.
"How's the cartridge port of Chrono Trigger coming along?" Takuya asked casually, gesturing for her to sit down.
"I dumped all that dirty, tedious work on the fresh graduates we hired last year," Rieko Kodama said matter-of-factly, slamming a few sheets of paper onto the table. "If they can't even handle a simple down-port like this, not only will the art team lose their bonuses, but I'll have to consider sending them to HR for retraining."
Takuya picked up the proposal booklet on the table, its cover emblazoned with bold letters: Phantasy Star III.
"Phantasy Star III?" Takuya raised an eyebrow. "I distinctly remember saying at the meeting that our first-tier teams need to focus on transitioning to the new console. You're defying orders, aren't you?"
"RPGs aren't like action games, which rely heavily on hardware capabilities. They're driven by story and systems, so they're less dependent on cutting-edge tech," Rieko explained, leaning forward and tapping her knuckles lightly on the table. "Besides, our team has been conceptualizing this project for ages. If we don't move forward with it, we'll lose sleep over it."
Takuya didn't rush to comment, instead flipping to the second page of the proposal booklet.
Instead of the dense, text-heavy outline Takuya had expected, what greeted him were several meticulously detailed concept designs, accompanied by a bold header: "Development Proposal for Next-Generation Hardware Architecture."
"You always say we shouldn't rely on technical features," Takuya remarked, pointing to a notation on the blueprint and giving Rieko Kodama an enigmatic smile. "But this is quite impressive, isn't it? A 45-degree oblique 3D perspective, multi-layered translucent occlusion, and real-time calculated cutscenes."
Rieko shrugged and pulled up a chair, her casual posture making it seem like she was sitting in her own living room. "Since the Managing Director declared we need to prepare for the next generation, I couldn't possibly present you with 16-bit pixel art. That would be an insult to the Phantasy Star brand."
Takuya remained silent, continuing to flip through the documents, the approval in his eyes gradually deepening.
This proposal was brilliantly conceived.
It avoided the reckless pursuit of full 3D, a path too risky for current RPG development teams.
The technology wasn't yet mature enough to build a detailed and expansive fantasy world with crude polygons. Rather than risk breaking immersion with a cast of angular, blocky characters, it made more sense to push 2D graphics to their absolute limit.
In the planning document, non-combat scenes used a fixed 45-degree oblique perspective.
This pseudo-3D design cleverly exploited visual illusions, leveraging the new console's powerful sprite processing capabilities to create astonishingly detailed screen compositions.
Terrain with elevation differences was no longer a flat texture trick, but a genuine spatial structure governed by real-world physics.
As characters moved into the shadows of buildings, translucent occluders would naturally fade, dynamically adjusting the lighting effects.
Even more impressive were the cutscenes.
"3D models provide the framework, while high-resolution 2D sprites create the skin. Combined with the massive storage capacity of CD-ROM—" Takuya read aloud, his finger pausing on the phrase "full-voice acting for the entire story." "Are you planning to turn this game into an interactive anime?"
"Players are becoming increasingly discerning. You can't move them with just some text boxes and beeps anymore," Rieko Kodama said, pulling a pack of women's cigarettes from her bag. She spun the pack in her hand but didn't light up. "Now that we have the storage capacity of CDs, it would be a waste not to fill them with voice acting and high-quality music. What we need to do is make players feel like they're not just playing a game, but starring in their own space opera."
In terms of combat, the proposal retained the series' traditional turn-based system. This might seem conservative, but it was actually the most prudent choice.
However, in terms of expressiveness, the development team clearly intended to wring every last drop of 2D performance out of the new hardware.
Multi-layered transparency effects for magic, dynamic boss portraits that filled half the screen yet remained smooth, and battlefield backgrounds that revealed their three-dimensional depth with subtle camera adjustments.
This "new wine in old bottles" strategy allowed them to avoid the visual risks associated with early 3D technology while genuinely enhancing the visual impact.
"It's a cunning plan," Takuya said, closing the proposal document. "But I like it."
This transitional form, hovering between 2D and 3D, was precisely the direction most likely to shine in the early days of the next generation.
Compared to clumsy experiments that forced 3D for its own sake, resulting in awkward controls and rough graphics, polished works like this were what players were truly willing to pay for.
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